Keeping Red Abalone on the Menu

Gary B. Fleener, director of science, sustainability, and farm education at Hog Island, writes: “At Hog Island Oyster Company, we work with our friends at the Cultured Abalone in Santa Barbara to procure farm-raised red abalone (Haliotis rufescens). Farmed abalone are fed the same diet of wild kelp and other seaweeds as are wild but are grown in large tanks to protect them from predators and the uncertainties of the open coast. It takes three to four years to produce a red abalone about 4 inches (10 cm) long! Working with farmed abalone allows us to keep this ancient seafood on our menus without impact to recovering wild populations. In fact, some of the animals at the Cultured Abalone may eventually support restoration efforts in the wild.”